Let the Ball Drop!
by LubyLubyLou
Summary: The Victorious gang decides to spend New Year's Eve in New York City. And Beck and Cat spend more time with each other, discovering new sides of their friends.   I don't own Victorious!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Thanks for wanting to read this! :) **  
><strong>I hope you enjoy it!<strong>  
><strong>I was craving to write a story so much, so now I finally got inspired :) <strong>  
><strong>To be honest, I don't know much about LA or the ball dropping in NYC, so I'm just gonna improvise or do some Youtube research ;) <strong>  
><strong>Please review! I'd love to hear you say I should continue ;)<strong>  
><strong>Beck 3 Cat<strong>

It was just an ordinary day at school. For late December, it was still pretty sunny in Los Angeles. On that ordinary day, our gang was sitting at the lunch table, when suddenly...  
>"I have the GREATEST idea in the history of ideas!"<p>

"Wow, Trina, what's the good news? Did you decide to swallow sand until you suffocate?" Trina acted like she didn't even hear Jade's comment. She simply continued.  
>"I have a casting for a not so minor role in... dramatic pause... New York City on December 30th!"<p>

Trina was clearly proud of herself, but good old Jade couldn't stop being the little meanie she just is.  
>"You're leaving? Trina! I am sincerely impressed. That IS a good idea, you didn't promise too much."<br>At this point, both Tori and Beck decided to step in. Beck by taking away Jade's coffee, to which she reacted with an evil stare, and Tori by saying: "Jade! That's enough! Trina, that is actually a great idea. Good luck!"  
>"What? No, that wasn't the idea yet, silly! What do you guys think about... going to New York for New Year's Eve? Huh? Huh? HUH?"<p>

That was the first time Cat looked up from her Christmas decoration catalog.  
>"New York? Isn't that a little dangerous? Seven teenagers and a puppet among thousands of people?"<br>This made Robbie choke on his food in this sudden outrage caused by the word 'puppet'.  
>But it also made Beck smile.<br>"Cat. Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the US. Don't you think 3.8 million people is a lot, too?"  
>"And that's only the people in the city," Andre added.<br>"Well... yeah," Cat admitted, "but you barely ever see them. They are just hanging out in their pools or on their tennis courts... New York, on the other hand, is full of robbers and bad guys and tough rappers!"  
>Beck grinned. "No worries, we'll protect you."<p>

"Anyway," Tori said, "that would be sweet.. but how do you wanna pay that, Trina? And I'm sure our parents wouldn't let us go by ourselves..."

Trina had that sort of smile on her face that you get when you are way ahead of the game and have thought about everything before anyone else has.

" Well, guess what! Did you know that Sikowitz' old mother has an apartment in NYC? I know right! I had no idea! Sooo, what I did was, I bribed him into accompanying us to the Big Apple and letting us stay at his mom's place by promising to mention his name to the casting director. How awesome am I?"

Everyone, even Jade, started beaming now.  
>"We could probably get some pretty cheap last minute flight tickets!" Beck said.<br>"Let's do it!" Tori squealed. And everybody joined the cheering.

–-

So that was how the group of friends ended up at Los Angeles International Airport on the 30th December (way too early in the morning – according to Jade).  
>After an endless time of hanging around at the terminal and listening to the impatient Trina whine continuously, there were allowed to board.<p>

Due to their late scheduling, the teenagers' seats were scattered all over the plane.  
>Cat asked around.<br>"Hey Tori, what seat do you have?"  
>"B 12."<br>"Oh.. not next to me.. Hey Andre, what seat do you have?"  
>"Umm.. D 4."<p>

"Aww.. not next to me either! Hey Beck, what seat d..."  
>"A 20. Cat. I've got A 20."<br>"Hey! That's next to mine!"  
>Suddenly, Jade seemed way awake.<br>"What? Uh, I don't think so, girl. I have the right to sit next to my BF."  
>Cat was a little disappointed. She didn't usually make good first impressions on strangers, so meeting someone on a plane was often a disaster. Therefore, she had been glad knowing that she sat next to Beck because he wouldn't look at her funny or carefully move away from her as far as possible. But to her it made sense that Jade claimed the seat. So she was about to hand her the ticket, when Beck interrupted.<p>

"Aw, but Jade.. I know you want to get some sleep.. And.. the smell of my coffee would just keep you awake.. And I wouldn't be able to help myself and just talk to you for the whole time because I can't resist you." He winked at her in order to get the greatest effect possible. And if you have ever seen Beck wink at someone or heard him talk in his sweet voice, you would know that, of course, he won her over.  
>Eventually, Cat didn't have to switch tickets and they were finally able to get settled.<p>

Once they had sat down, Beck exhaled in relief.  
>"Are you okay, Beck?" Cat asked.<br>"Hm? Oh yeah. To be honest, I'm pretty glad I don't have to hear Jade complaining about this and that for all of the flight. That's why I kinda wanted her not seated next to me. So yeah, I'm okay. Don't worry. You always worry."

He smiled. And she smiled back.  
>"Oh, I guess. I'm sorry?"<br>"Don't apologize, Cat! It's not that bad, actually. I think, it means you can empathize well."  
>"Did you learn that in Psych 101?"<br>Beck laughed, which Cat enjoyed to hear. She was starting to think that maybe she should have worn something prettier than hear sweatpants and baggie sweater. And maybe she should have put on just a tiny bit more make up. Jade, of course, wore her super tight black pants, looking gorgeous as ever with her smokey eyes.

Why should Cat even try?  
>As if he had read her thoughts, Beck asked: "You look different." He tilted his head, practically staring at her. Obviously, Cat felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, so she put her hair in front of her face by combing it with her fingers.<br>"No, Cat, I'm sorry. I meant good different! I mean, like, how do I say this without putting my foot in it..." He laughed his husky laugh, and Cat could pretty much hear the sizzling of the melting hearts of the girls around them. "I mean you look real and comfy. And I like real and comfy."  
>"Alright, thanks, I suppose, I didn't put much effort into the choice of an outfit I'm going to wear for a three-hour flight..."<br>"And that's very likeable. So, are you ready to go to New York City?"  
>She grinned in excitement. "Heck yeah. This is going to be awesome!"<br>Beck looked at her and said: "Oh yes, it is."


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's Chapter two! Yay! **  
><strong>And I dedicate it to the user <em>TeamPiper<em> because of her inspiring and flattering review :) **  
><strong>I know this one is pretty short, but I felt like the ending was a good way to end a chapter, but I'm gonna start with chapter 3 right now! :) <strong>  
><strong>Review! :) <strong>  
><strong>Love<strong>

-*o.o*-

_"So, are you ready to go to New York City?"_  
><em>She grinned in excitement. "Heck yeah. This is going to be awesome!"<em>  
><em>Beck looked at her and said: "Oh yes, it is."<em>

At around 4 pm Tori, Trina, Robbie and Rex, Jade, Beck, Cat and Andre finally had solid ground under their feet again.

On their way to the baggage claim, Cat shouted: "Aren't time zones like the most fascinating thing in the whole wide universe?"  
>No one answered. They were all way too tired and exhausted from the flight and from sitting tightly tucked in next to mostly strangers with no to little room for their legs. But Cat, with her own sort of energy, was as bubbly as ever (much to the annoyance of some of her friends).<p>

After the teenagers had recollected all their luggage, they spotted Sikowitz in the crowd of waiting businessmen and relatives. He was holding a huge sign that said "SEVEN ECCENTRIC CALIFORNIANS AND A PUPPET"  
>This seemed like a cold shower to Robbie because all of the sudden his eyes widened and all his fatigue vanished as he stormed up to his teacher, grabbed the sign and ripped it into pieces, repeatedly murmuring "Not a puppet. Not a puppet. He is NOT a puppet."<p>

While Andre tried to calm Robbie and patted him on the shoulder, Sikowitz screamed: "Hello! Kids of the West!"  
>All the people around him looked at him puzzled and started to walk faster past him than necessary, but the group of friends was used to his... well, odd behavior.<p>

They were all relieved to see the familiar and funnily dressed guy who would lead them to a place where they could put all their stuff and relax a bit.

Mrs Sikowitz' place was not like any of the kids would have expected it to be.  
>To start with, it wasn't as big, but that wasn't the surprising part.<br>"This is.. so clean." Tori said in shock.  
>"And tidy." Jade mentioned, equally surprised.<p>

Sikowitz laughed. "I know, my mother is a bit weird, right?"

The living room was the biggest part of the apartment. It was also the guys' place to sleep. Right connected to it was the open kitchen and there were a couple of doors leading to separate bedrooms and a bathroom.

When the girls entered their bedroom, Mrs Sikowitz' guest room, Cat had a disappointed look on her face. "This is not comfy at all!" And she was right. The room was mostly held in black and white, which was the same for the whole apartment. Barely any wall decoration or cute carpets or pillows were to be found.  
>"This is so different from Sikowitz' place isn't it? Guess that explains why he turned out the way he did..." Beck had entered the room and greeted the girls with his husky laugh.<p>

Cat, though a little disappointed, didn't lose her positive attitude. "Yes. But we are gonna make this shine!"

Beck laughed; he should have seen this coming.

Cat went on: "We should go out right now and find some decoration stores! We need some party stuff! Garlands! Party lights! Balloons! Anything colorful and sparkly! I can see it in my head!"

"Yeah. Not with me. I'm gonna close my eyes for a minute." Jade said. Apparently Tori, of all people, wasn't in the shopping mood either. Trina was preparing for her audition and Robbie and Andre decided to explore the roof of the apartment building.  
>So it was just down to Beck and Cat. It could have been worse.<p>

The two of them weren't alone often. They had had a few assignments together, but outside of school it was never_ only them_. Usually Jade was to protective over Beck to let that happen. But tiredness can do things to you...

Both Beck and Cat enjoyed this Beck/Cat-togetherness. It was different from their usual routine of hanging out with the others. Of course, the two of them had been friends for quite a while now, and they knew each other pretty well, but still.. There was something about this. Cat had already felt it on the plane. It was like they talked differently to each other,

like they were discovering a whole new connection.

Shopping really became a minor matter now. They were too fascinated with the city and everything in it. And secretly, there were too fascinated with each other.  
>Beck kept being distracted by the smell of her hair. He always expected it to be fruity. Not that he had ever imagined the smell of her hair. Of course not. But he was still positively surprised when he noticed that it had a scent of cinnamon.<br>And he had always loved cinnamon.

Cat, on the other hand, simply loved talking to him. It felt like Beck was never stunned by her randomness or her weird associations. He even laughed at her jokes, and that means something.. For other people it would have been pretty hard to spend a day in New York with Cat Valentine because there is so much to see, so many unique people, so many characteristics that are no where else to be seen. This lead her to basically jump from one topic to the next, to say "Look! There is a … " every minute and to often start giggling for no apparent reason. Others would have been way annoyed, but Beck was calm and open for her thoughts and just laughed along.

After they counted 180 cabs, skipped through a tiny piece of Central Park, and expressed a slight sadness of how small the Rockefeller tree appeared, and of course after having bought a bunch of party decorations, they got back to the apartment.

There, Cat immediately started to work on making the place look a bit nicer. When Mrs Sikowitz noticed, she rolled her eyes, didn't even bother complaining and just hit her son on the back of his head and returned to her bedroom.

What the girl with the decoration fever didn't notice was that once Beck had stepped into the living room, Jade grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into a corner.

Cat didn't notice the harsh whispers and she didn't see the wild gesticulations coming from Jade or Beck's defensive body language.

She also didn't hear Jade say: "We are in New York City the first time ever, and you prefer spending your time with HER? Who is your girlfriend again?"

If Cat hadn't been so busy spangling the room, she would have also seen Jade storming off to the girls' room, leaving behind a frustrated Beck who did in fact seem to feel angry, but not at all guilty.


	3. Chapter 3

**Woah, 2nd chapter in a day! I'm on a roll! Haha :) **  
><strong>This one is a bit longer, too. <strong>  
><strong>Hope you enjoy it! <strong>  
><strong>Pleeaase, please review, it would totally make my day!<strong>  
><strong>Lots of Love and HAPPY NEW YEAR!<strong>

For dinner, Sikowitz surprised them with original New York hot dogs. Now, at the late hour with full bellies, all of them were starting to get tired. Even Cat.

But before they could go to sleep, they, once again, had to hear Trina whine about her "awful audition and unfair judges and ugly casting directors".

When the girls eventually got into their room, the first thing Jade said was: "I am not gonna sleep on the floor." And with an evil smirk she added: "Plus, I will not sleep next to Cat."

There was only one bed in the room and the girls decided to let Jade and Trina sleep in it, while Cat and Tori where going to sleep on mattresses.

The others put off Jade's mean comment as something usual she would just say, but it hit Cat. She had had the impression that over the past months they had grown at least a little closer. It had appeared as if Jade had become aware of Cat's fragile nature, leading her to be less nasty towards her, so Cat wouldn't be so upset all the time.

But that snide remark felt like Jade didn't even care about Cat's feelings. Maybe she had gotten used to Jade being "nicer". Maybe it had just been a phase of hers and now she was back to hurting, hurting and hurting people again. Why were they even friends?

_'Ponies, Cat.' _She thought to herself. _'Ponies, no, unicorns on a super green meadow surrounded by pink and blue and yellow and orange and purple flowers. Time to sleep. Let Jades be Jades and unicorns be unicorns.' _

The next morning everyone, meaning everyone, woke up excited. It was the day of the biggest party ever!  
>Cat considered Jade's rudeness a thing of the past and an outsider would have seen a cute and happy couple in Jade and Beck. But anyone who would have been able to see into their heads, had seen that Jade's anger about the last day hadn't vanished and that she tried to keep it together for her relationship's sake. Anyone who had cared enough to take a closer look at those two, would have noticed that Beck kept pulling away his hand from his girlfriend and preferred to use it to nervously run his fingers through his hair.<p>

Regardless, the teenagers, accompanied by Sikowitz, spent an unforgettable day in New York.

In the morning, they went to see Ellis Island and Lady Liberty, had lunch at Katz's (Andre sat in Harry's spot while Robbie sat in Sally's), went shopping for a bit and later got to the second most exciting part of the day: Broadway.  
>They took about a million pictures, all of them dreaming of becoming a star in that very place someday. Finally, it was time to head to Times Square in order to still get a place with not a so horrible vision.<br>It is an understatement to say it was crowded. But it was.  
>Neither of the teens had seen that many people gathered together in one place. This could only mean that it was going to be fantastic.<p>

And that assumption turned out to be perfectly right. Over all the adrenaline that rushed through the kids' veins, they even forgot the cold which that winter day brought with it.  
>They had the time of their life singing along to Hot Chelle Rae, Taio Cruz, Beyonce and Pitbull, yes even Justin Bieber.<br>But, of course, the highlight was Lady Gaga who pressed the button that made the ball drop. Not caring about tomorrow's hoarseness, they screamed every single word of her song.  
>Then, the ball lit up, and slowly went down on its pole and nearly a million people, among them Cat, Beck, Jade, Tori, Andre, Robbie, Trina and Mr. Sikowitz, counted down the last seconds of the year 2011 at the top of their lungs.<p>

And then just like that the ball's light went off and a huge illuminated 2012 appeared.

Apparently that was the commando to kiss.  
>Cat, as if out of an instinct, looked over to see what Beck was doing. It was pretty clear what he was doing: Kissing Jade.<br>Even though she felt a slight sting in her heart, a more dominant feeling was that of a pair of lips on hers. She needed a moment to realize that is was Robbie. Robbie Shapiro. Oh Lord.

It was a quick kiss; over before Cat could pull away.

Robbie smiled at her. Because she was nice, she smiled back, but she didn't mean it.  
>A New Year's kiss wasn't a big deal, but...<br>She looked at the others of her group. Trina was flirting with some random guy she probably just kissed, Tori and Andre were laughing together about something, Sikowitz was still in trance and Beck and Jade... they were still embracing each other, apparently forgiving.  
>Back to Robbie: He was about to hug her. She accepted the hug, but made it swift. Afterwards, she hugged all the others. When she approached Beck, she felt the sudden urge to hold him as long as possible.<br>What was going on?

She felt his hand on her hair and noticed him taking a deep breath when they were embracing. Without thinking, she pushed her body closer to his and wrapped her arms a bit tighter around his neck.

Suddenly, Sikowitz shouted: "Let's go hunt down a cab!" And by doing that, he took their moment.  
>It was probably for the better. Everyone else was ready to go, and they wanted to be one of the first to leave in order to catch a cab.<p>

When in the car, Jade said excitedly: "Tori! I haven't had enough of New York yet! Have you?" Tori smiled at her and shook her head. "What do you say? You, me, Sikowitz exploring NYC by night?" Everyone in the taxi was a little startled at what Jade had just said there, but it seems even she has her social moments at times. Tori agreed, and so did Sikowitz, though reluctantly.

The teacher ordered the cab driver to drop off the rest of the group at the apartment and then the others went "exploring".

Upstairs, Andre had the thrilling idea to go on the roof again to see the party continuing from an other angle, but Cat didn't feel like it. In the car, she wasn't only startled by Jade's sudden social behavior, but also because she was openly excluded by her. And no one said a word about it.  
>Now, she just wanted to be alone for a moment.<br>It all felt so right, when she was there on Times Square with Beck, hugging. And then it fell into pieces again. Like a picture frame broken into pieces of glass. It seemed like a good idea to get some rest now and relax in the girls' room. On her own.

That plan was upset by a knock on the door.  
>And oh, who else could it be but Beck Oliver?<p>

"Hey." He said.  
>She smiled at him. "Hey."<br>Cat noticed that something was weird about him, in his posture or something. But she shrugged it off.  
>"How did you like Times Square?"<br>The first thing she thought of to answer that question was the hug between her and Beck.  
>She took a deep breath. "It was great! I honestly loved it! I wish I could go back there and just relive it." She giggled.<br>"Oh yeah, I know what you mean. So, why aren't up on the roof with the others?"  
>Because of Robbie.<br>And Jade.  
>"Oh, you know... no particular reason. I guess I wanna cool off a bit. Thought about starting to pack since our flight is almost right after lunch."<p>

Then she noticed what looked odd about him.  
>"What do you have behind your back, Mr Oliver?"<br>That husky laugh again. It was going to kill Cat.  
>"Just a little something I got out of one of Mrs Sikowitz' cabinets..."<br>And behind his back he pulled... a bottle of rose wine.

"Beck! Are you insane?" She whispered "loudly". He put on his bad-boy-grin and walked up to her. "Come on, Cat! It's New Year's Eve. We should get to celebrate."  
>Cat was so not okay with this. She was the good girl. Innocent. Never been to the director's office. Never been stopped by a cop on the highway. She was the good girl.<p>

"You can not be serious! What if someone finds out?" She couldn't get the shocked expression off her face.  
>"Aw, but they won't! You can't possibly imagine how many bottles of whine that woman has in her cabinet. Plus, there was a greeting card stuck on this one, and it was written in August 2010. I think that means Mrs Sikowitz isn't interested in drinking it any time soon."<p>

"And we shouldn't be either. It's illegal, remember?"  
>Cat felt like the little angel that appears on someone's shoulder when it comes to tough decisions. And Beck was obviously the little devil.<br>"Okay. Imagine this: We are in, say, Italy right now. We are the exact same people, just under a different law. Under that law, we would be allowed to drink, so why shouldn't be we, here and now? Plus, it's just some rose wine. It's not like we're getting hammered."

The little angel, with her arms crossed over her chest sighed in resignation. "I guess this is the definition of peer pressure."  
>"Haha, is that a yes?" Beck exclaimed, already opening the bottle.<p>

He was right, Cat thought to herself. They were young and should enjoy life with its perks, especially on New Year's Eve.  
>And maybe this was a way to get the suckish parts of the day out of her head.<p>

Still, no one had to know about this. So she said behind the bed, leaning her back against its side. Beck followed her and handed her the bottle. "You get the first sip, Ms Valentine."  
>"Oh, how generous of you ... This is my first wine ever."<p>

Cat put the bottle to her lips and drank.

"I wouldn't have guessed." He answered with a smile.  
>It tasted kind of bitter. But not gross. Not like something she wouldn't taste again.<p>

"You know, today was also my first kiss ever."  
>"Oh?"<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

**Heya! A new chapter! Finally using my Christmas break for something useful!  
>I think I might like this chapter!<br>Tell me what you think! Please?  
>I know, begging isn't very lady-like, but sometimes it is necessary.<br>Love_  
><em>**

_"You know, today was also my first kiss ever."_  
><em>"Oh?<em>"

Beck was actually a little surprised by this piece of information. After all, Cat was a great catch. She was beautiful, so beautiful. And her hair smelled so good. And she had this positive aura, he could just imagine that anyone who kissed her would instantly felt great.

Wait.  
>She said today was her first kiss.<br>So someone kissed her today.  
>Who?<p>

And why did he feel a sting in his stomach when thinking about some guy kissing her?

"Hold on – who kissed you?"  
>"Robbie did. You know, first kiss of the New Year and such." She took another sip of wine. And so did he.<br>"Well, was it good?"  
>She giggled shyly. What was he asking her?<br>"Um, I don't know. I guess I don't have any experiences to compare it with..." He laughed and scooted a bit closer to her, almost unnoticeably.  
>"So, is that why..."<br>"I'm not up on the roof with Robbie and Andre? Yeah..."

Beck ran his fingers through his hair before twisting the wine bottle in his hands.

"I'm sorry. I feel like this trip is going kinda, well, not good for you."  
>"What?" She said in her high pitched voice. "No, no, no. It's great! I enjoy it! I mean, even the flight wasn't too bad, and come on, shopping for party decorations was awesome! Plus, I loved being a tourist! I counted like 23 horses and they were all so pretty! I wish I coulda gone ice skating though! I love ice skating... Obviously, we can't go ice-skating in LA a lot... at least not outside. You know, 'cause it's so-"<br>"Cat. You're babbling."

He didn't say it in an accusing voice, not at all. He never talked to her like that. He just spoke with a gentle voice and with a smile on his face.

"Oh." She smacked her hand in front of her hand. "I... never notice."  
>To overplay her embarrassment, she grabbed the bottle Beck was still holding, and drank.<p>

And that had its effects. Cat started to be a bit braver and felt the urge to talk about what has been bugging her.  
>"Whatever happened to Jade? I feel like she's treating me like... you know I recently saw a documentary about chipmunks and there was one chipmunk and he didn't have any stripes, so the other chipmunks just treated him like an ordinary squirrel and didn't let him be part of the chipmunk family. I feel like I'm a stripeless chipmunk."<p>

She put the bottle to her lips once again.

Beck would have laughed if it hadn't been so serious. He felt so guilty because it was all his fault that Jade treated her that way. And Cat didn't even have a clue of what was going on. Didn't that indicate her innocence?

"I might be the one to blame for that one." They were almost half way done with their wine. So why stop now? Beck took another sip and continued: "Well, you know what? I can't be blamed for that! No, I can't! Jade's the guilty one! She is soo jealous! All the time! Why should I apologize for that?"  
>While he was saying that, Cat nodded heavily.<br>"Yes. Yes, I totally agree! She can be so-" And then she really realized what Beck had just said there. "Wait. She's jealous? Of what?"  
>She looked down herself and started laughing hysterically. In her eyes, there was nothing to be jealous of about her. At least, there was nothing Jade could be jealous of. Jade was too confident to be jealous of anything, except when it came to Beck, but..<br>"That doesn't even make sense." Cat murmured.

"Yeah, I know, she's overreacting again. She saw you and me hanging out and now she thinks I'm cheating on her."

So that was why Jade treated Cat like that. That was so unfair! All she did was spending some time with Beck! She felt misunderstood and screwed over. Now, she had to put all the possible effort into suppressing tears. Thanks, Jade.

She tried to explain herself.  
>"I didn't go shopping with you or sit next to you on the plane to upset Jade! I did it because... well, because I like you! She totally misinterpreted that, I mean-"<br>"Whoa, what, hold on, what?  
>"Hm?"<p>

"What did you just say?"  
>"I didn't go shopping with you or sit n-"<br>But Beck didn't want to hear that, he waved his hand impatiently at her. "Yea, yeah. I heard that. I meant... Well, you said you like me?"  
>"As a friend. I mean you are a friend of mine."<br>"Right. I.. We're friends."  
>They smiled at each other, but somehow it felt awkward. There was a silence that felt different all of the sudden. The famous awkward silence.<p>

Luckily, they had a great way to bridge that silence. Wine.  
>He cleared his throat and put his elbow on the bed they were leaning against, initially moving closer to her.<br>Oh, how he wished he could just smell that cinnamon hair again.

Cat, also affected by the alcohol, had a sudden craving for physical contact, for intimacy.  
>She struggled. What to do? Could she just... give in to it? Would he? Was it appropriate? She didn't want to ruin the moment, the connection between them.<br>But then again, it was late, they were alone. Why not just go for it? Maybe he wanted it too?

With one hand she grabbed the wine bottle, had another sip, and with her other hand she took Beck's hand which was laying in his lap.  
>It seemed hasty, as if she did it without even thinking about, but in fact it meant a lot to her.<br>She put the the bottle aside, still holding his hand and started to trace the veins of his hand with her fingers. All without looking at him, but she could feel his gaze on her. He didn't draw his hand away from her, though.  
>She wanted him to just keep talking. Keep talking, before this turns awkward again.<p>

"You know what I'm thinking of?" Oh thank god.  
>She giggled and said: "No, I don't."<br>"Do you know this one song by Adele? It's called 'First Love'."

Finally, she looked up to him, only to see that he had closed his eyes.  
>Cat didn't know it, but he had closed his eyes in order to concentrate on what he was going to say. These tender touches on his skin almost killed him.<br>He didn't wait for Cat to answer his question. "The thing is... Every time I hear that song, I think of me and Jade. It's a kinda sad song. She's pretty much saying goodbye to her first relationship.. She says 'Forgive me first love, but I'm tired. I need to get away to feel again. This love has dried up and stayed behind.' "  
>He paused, and it appeared as if he was holding his breath for a second like he was carefully deciding if he should say the next words or not.<br>He decided to say this: "She also says: 'Excuse me first love, but we're through. I need to taste a kiss from someone new."  
>And with these words, he opened his eyes again.<p>

Cat's throat suddenly went dry.  
>"Um.. do you... What does.. What are you saying?"<br>Beck scooted even closer towards her and eventually put his forehead on her shoulder, his nose touching her cheek.  
>When he whispered then, he did indeed sound tired, exhausted. "I'm saying, my relationship with Jade has dried up and... And I need to taste a kiss from someone new."<br>Cat was unable to move. Even if she had wanted to, she just couldn't stir.  
>Beck lifted his head again, and laid a hand on her cheek.<br>Her breathing sped up as his face moved towards her and then, finally, oh god, finally he kissed her.

And now, she did have an experience to compare her first kiss with. She came to the conclusion that her second kiss was better on all levels.

Still, she couldn't move, but that wasn't necessary. All she needed to do was concentrate on the feeling of his lips on hers, and that wasn't very hard.

Too soon, it was over.

She leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes. It felt perfect. There was a silence again, but this time it wasn't awkward at all. Beck eventually broke it: "Do you think we should go to sleep?"  
>Cat nodded slightly, and was then pulled up by Beck.<br>She felt as if she was in some sort of trance when she laid down on the bed.  
>"Don't fall asleep just yet," he said, before he left the room to put the wine back in one of cabinets. Apparently the others hadn't returned yet.<br>When he got back, he pulled out the blanket under Cat, who was already almost sleeping and laid down next to her.

There, under the blanket, he moved as close to her as possible and took her hand, closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly. Next to her. Breathing in her cinnamon scent.

It looked like a peaceful scene.

Peaceful, until Jade entered the room and started to yell.

**Yay. I do not own Victorious or Adele's song First Love.**  
><strong>I do own a love for reviews though?<strong>  
><strong>Look, there's a trace of breadcrumbs to the review button!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Finally! An update! I'm sorry it took me so long. But school started again, and I've been sick, and yes I know, excuses, excuses. **  
><strong>Anyways, I hope you enjoy it. <strong>  
><strong>This is after Jade finds Cat and Beck sleeping together (totally PG ;)).<strong>  
><strong>I've kinda focused more on Jade and Beck in this one, I hope you don't mind :) <strong>  
><strong>Love<strong>

The first thing Cat heard when she woke up way too early the next morning was a shrill, female voice screaming accusations and insults.  
>The first thing she saw, when she opened her eyes was a crazy Jade hitting, or rather smashing, Beck with a pillow.<p>

The first thing she said was: "Oh no."

"What the HELL were you thinking? No, let me rephrase this, what the frick were you DOING? And you stupid bastard told me there's nothing between you and this COW! And here you are... laying in bed with HER! Of all people! What did you guys do? HUH?"  
>She kept beating him with one of Mrs Sikowitz' pillows.<br>"I—hate—you! Stupid—betraying—douche—bag!"  
>No one said anything. In fact, all the other guys, even Sikowitz just stood there. They probably didn't want to get hurt.<p>

Finally, Cat decided to do something. "Jade, listen, I.. this is not-"  
>Jade laughed in a sort of creepy way. "Don't you FRICKING dare say 'This is not what it looks like'. I do NOT care what you have to say! What were you thinking, huh? Touching MY boyfriend?"<br>There was no way in heaven Jade would calm down. Even Beck, who had just been sitting there trying to protect himself from the beating, his protests muffled by the pillow, could not do anything to make her stop.

The only one with a clear head seemed to be Mrs Sikowitz who stormed into the room after she had been woken up by the noise. When she saw the scene, she immediately snatched the pillow out of Jade's hands, grabbed her and Beck by the arm and dragged them out of the bedroom.

Tears welled up in Cat's eyes. She didn't mean for that to happen. How could she let it come to this? Jade had been completely crossed out of her mind last night. Of course, now she knew that it was wrong. She shouldn't have gotten so close to him. He was Jade's.

She wiped the tears of her face, but she couldn't stop them from coming. A look up to her friends showed her, they weren't very friendly-minded right now. No one came up to comfort her, no one tried to assure her that everything was going to be fine. They mostly just stood awkwardly by the door.  
>Eventually, Tori cleared her throat and broke the silence: "I guess we... should start packing up our things." The others nodded in silence, the guys left the room and the girls had finally found something to keep them busy. Still, the awkward silence could not be bridged.<p>

In the meantime, Mrs Sikowitz had taken the couple to the stairs leading to the roof.  
>"Kids, I'm not interested in your personal problems. Literally, not at all. All I'm interested in is getting my beauty sleep. So, if you want to continue fighting, you better take it up to the roof. If not, be quiet and start packing." With this announcement, she went back into her bedroom.<br>Jade breathed heavily. Beck could practically feel her urge of strangling him right on that very spot. He sighed, opened the door, and walked upstairs. He heard Jade following him.

It could have been a beautiful scene up there. They were overlooking New York at sunrise. It could have been so gorgeousl, but it felt more like a knife ramming in his heart because they could not stand here, in love, enjoying this view. Instead they were fighting. And were they even still in love?

He could sense her glare, but he did not dare to look.

"I'm sorry. I really mean it, I'm sorry."  
>"Oh, do I wanna push you off of here right now. " There were standing about 10 feet away from each other, but it felt like a thousand miles. She had her arms crossed over her chest and had a fierce look on her face. He was running his hands through his hair and his eyes looked exhausted.<p>

"I shouldn't have done it." Beck knew it was the right thing to say, but he wasn't sure if he actually meant it.

"Done what, now, Mr Perfect Hair?" she hissed, walking closer to him.  
>"Kissed her." He whispered. "We kissed."<p>

Her breathing got faster again, and he knew it was because she was fighting tears.

"Stupid, reckless, mean son of a bitch." She said in a weak voice.  
>That was the first time Beck actually looked at her. He wanted to take her into his arms and comfort her, but she would never have let him.<p>

"I'm so sorry. I know it was wrong to do that.. at least while we were still together."

"_Still_ together?" She was getting louder again. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? So, you're all in super-sweet-cookie-dough love with her now, or what? Are you being serious?"

Was he? In love with Cat? He couldn't say, he couldn't know. But one thing he knew: "This isn't going anywhere, Jade."  
>"<em>This <em>being what exactly?"  
>"This relationship. Us. Maybe we've fallen out of love, Jade. Maybe we've used up all our love resources. I can only speak for myself here, but I'm too tired of all this drama, all this fighting and all your expectations that have always been so hard to meet. I'm too tired to continue this."<p>

For a moment, there was silence.  
>After a couple of dreadful seconds, she quickly walked over to him and with every word she said then, she punched him in the chest. "Don't. You. Dare. To. Break. Up. With. Me. After. All. You've. Done."<br>He took her fists in his hands, held them for a moment, and then tried to hug her. But as he had assumed earlier, she wasn't fine with that.  
>"No, Beck, no. Don't you dare. <em>I <em>will end this. You don't get to win. I'm calling the end. This relationship is officially over, Beck Oliver. I'm breaking up with you because you ruined everything." With that said, she turned around and took the stairs down, back to the apartment.

Beck stood still for a while.  
>What did he do? What did he start here? Will their group of friends break apart now? Could Tori, Robbie and Andre still be friends with both him and Jade without the ex-couple being friends? And what would happen between Cat and Jade? And more importantly, what would happen between Cat and... him?<p>

**There we go. Aw, I know it's pretty short. Sorry :( I hope you like it! I'm not sure it's a good chapter.. Can you convince me it's a good chapter? ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Finally! Yay! I could give you that usual crap about being sorry, and I am, but the truth is, I had no motivation or inspiration whatsoever to continue this story. **  
><strong>But then, two days ago, it hit me. Who knew broken friendships can be useful for something? <strong>  
><strong>I felt like writing something cute, bubbly and happy, especially after watching the last Victorious (this might be the right time to say that I DO NOT OWN VICTORIOUS!) episode which had some suppppppppperrrrrrrrrrr adorabllllllleeeeee Bat moments! <strong>  
><strong>But unfortunately, cute happy and bubbly isn't all that realistic. <strong>  
><strong>So here ya gooo. <strong>

Cat was mad. There is no way, and no particular need to say this more accurately. She was just mad. She felt it in her fingertips, her stomach, and most fiercely, in her heart.  
>That's why she baked cake. Red velvet cake, to be exact. Because she loved the color, hence her hair. But she didn't bake a cake just to pour food coloring in a cake dough and play around with it. She baked it, because she needed to bake and she needed the cake.<br>Why, you might ask.  
>The simple reason: Cake didn't disappoint you. Okay, maybe if you screwed up the recipe, but since Cat was a natural baking talent, she didn't have to worry about that. Cake couldn't leave you all by itself. It couldn't raise your hopes and then just walk away from you. Cake didn't kiss you. It couldn't steal your second kiss, sleep by your side and then just, well, not care.<p>

Boys could. Especially one boy could: Hollywood Arts' Prince Charming, Beck Oliver.  
>Too bad he wouldn't come up to Cat's front door on his white horse, declaring his love and elope with her to his castle in Far Far Away. Nope, not gonna happen.<p>

That is why, on that Tuesday night, she needed cake.

There still had been a couple of days left after they had returned from New York before they needed to go back to school. There was barely any contact between them during those last days of Christmas break. Tori texted her a couple of times, trying to make everything alright because that's the way she was. Cat had avoided to talk to Jade (for obvious reasons), was too shy to contact Beck and really didn't want to talk to Robbie.

Then the first day of school after the break came. To say it was awkward was a grand understatement. Every glance, every class, every word, every tiny situation was dripping with pure awkwardness. Besides that, she was scared as hell of Jade. She was expecting her to come to school with her entire scissor collection and to stab them slowly and cruelly in each of Cat's limbs. But Jade didn't. She just acted as if Cat didn't existed. Had the word been in her vocabulary, Cat would've called it passive-aggressive.

Robbie, Andre and Tori were all worried about what could happen to the group. They realized that the group's couple breaking up could mean the whole group breaking up. Nevertheless, on the first day back, they tried to act like nothing had happened. They cracked their usual jokes, had their usual gossip, ate their lunch at the usual table and went to class in the usual manner. The only difference was they they felt utterly and completely awkward. Oh, and of course the fact that Jade and Beck were nowhere to be found was also a little out of the ordinary.  
>Jade was, as explained earlier, too passive-aggressive to join the clique and Beck simply wanted to avoid Cat.<p>

He had no idea what to say to her. He didn't want it to be like that. He didn't want the group to fall apart. He still loved all of them, and he still wanted to give a friendship between him and Jade a try. He knew that wasn't going to happen, if he just avoided all of them, but he couldn't face Jade, let alone Cat. And also, to keep out of their way was just so much easier than having to explain himself.  
>And what would he say?<br>He meant what he had talked to Jade about. There was no chance of the two of them getting back together, but what would he do about the Cat-incident?

He didn't love her. That was a fact. And every time he said it to himself, it was like someone punched him the stomach because he kept imagining Cat's sad, huge, brown eyes when he would tell her that exact thing. But that stomach punch wasn't enough to turn his feelings around. He couldn't make himself love her even if he wanted to. Actually, he did want to, but that's just not how it works. He wanted to because then, it would've made sense to kiss her. Because then, he wouldn't have to feel like a jerk and he wouldn't have to make Cat feel horrible and rejected. It was pretty egoistic to want to love her. He didn't want to be the one who had destroyed the group by kissing someone out of a drunk New Year's desire.

So, that Monday after the Christmas break, no one saw neither Jade, nor Beck.  
>In a way, Cat was glad about that. Of course, she wanted to clear everything up; she wanted to know what would happen know and what Beck felt, but she, too, didn't know what to say to him. Unlike Beck, Cat didn't know what she felt. But she knew she enjoyed that kiss. She enjoyed to have someone to fall asleep next to and basically, she just enjoyed Beck's presence. And she wanted more of that. Cat Valentine didn't really know what it meant to be in love, but others, who could have looked into her heart or seen her thoughts, might have said that she was. In love, that is.<p>

On the next day, the first time Beck's and Cat's eyes locked, they both knew there had to be a talk.  
>In that moment, there was a shimmer of excitement in Cat's eyes because she was still hopeful. She thought maybe there was something developing between her and Beck. Maybe they had to keep their relationship a secret at first, but after some water would have passed under the bridge, the others would probably understand. She was already imagining a bright and happy future with Beck, so in thought, that she didn't notice the what laid in Beck's eyes.<br>That shimmer was a shimmer of sadness. If shimmers could be sad. He wasn't excited because he knew he was going to disappoint her. He was going to admit what a jerk a was, and then he would see those big brown eyes fill with tears. But at least he was man enough to actually clear things up.

During lunch break, Cat spent a little extra time waiting at her locker; waiting for Beck. He found her as if he had sensed it. So without saying a word, they went into the janitor's cabinet, bracing for a meaningful conversation.

Beck exhaled audibly. His eyes were still sad and her eyes were still excited. She even smiled now. It broke his heart to see her like that, knowing that he would be the one who was about to wipe that smile off her face.

Cat still had no idea what she was going to tell Beck, and he was glad that it wasn't one of those situations where two people want to speak at the same time and open their mouths simultaneously. He wanted to talk before she could introduce him to all her hopes and expectations that he could practically see engraved on her face.

"Cat. First of all, I need to say... I'm sorry. I am so incredibly sorry. I'm a jerk."  
>She giggled, not grasping the situation. "What?"<p>

"It was... not very... sensible to kiss you."  
>She didn't speak, so he continued. "It wasn't right. I felt... I don't know, I needed change. I wanted something different from Jade and you were there, but I shouldn't have used you. And that's really what I did, Cat. Please, oh god, please don't hate me. You're one of my best friends. I love you, and you were always there for me, and I used you, and, please, don't tell me I destroyed everything."<br>Her face fell in what seemed like slow motion. His desperate voice suddenly seemed to come from far away. He noticed all the excitement leaving her darkening eyes. The smile vanished and she couldn't look at him anymore.  
>"What... this means... what?"<br>"You're a great friend. And I'm begging you to keep it like that. I know, you must be terribly disappointed now and I'm sorry. So sorry. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have kissed you without having those kinda feeling that you should have when kissing someone. You know, romantic feelings. You were there for me, like you always are, and I needed someone and there were funny feelings inside of me that I should have analyzed, but I didn't. I took advantage of you."

She couldn't answer. All her hopes: Destroyed. Extinguished. Annihilated.

That explains why Cat Valentine, on that Tuesday night, baked a cake, crawled into her bed, cried and ate.


End file.
